Ventoy install of Proxmox 8.1 halts at "Loading initial ramdisk"

[levidos]

Was redacting this post when I finally managed to fix the issue.
I'll post this anyway in case others encounter it. Scroll to the end for the solution.

Hardware

• Dell OptiPlex Micro 3090
• Intel Core i5-10500T CPU @ 2.30GHz
• Intel UHD Graphics 630 Video
• 256GB NVMe disk in AHCI mode
• Secure Boot Disabled
• UEFI Boot Path Security set to Never
• Deep Sleep Control: Disabled
• Active State Power Management: Disabled

Symptoms

• Proxmox 8.1-2 (8.1.4) ISO installs fine using Ventoy and Proxmox GUI Install
• After reboot, the boot is stuck at:
• Loading Linux 6.5.11-8-pve ...
• Loading initial ramdisk ...
• Num Lock on the keyboard is not working, I have to unplug the computer

Things I tried

• Disabled TPM
• Tested the memory
• Booting into Proxmox 6.5.11-8-pve recovery mode, same issue
• Proxmox 7.4-1 installs & boots fine. I tried upgrading 7.4 -> 8.1, and it rebooted fine after dist-upgrade, but proxmox-ve goes missing.
• Uncommenting GRUB_TERMINAL=console in /etc/default/grub
• Disabling Audio in BIOS
• Disabling Absolute(r) Computrace
• Disabling SMM Security Mitigation
• Disable Intel Software Guard Extension
• Disable C-States Control
• Disable SERR Messages
• Disable Wifi and Bluetooth

Also checked

• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/stuck-on-loading-initial-ramdisk.126155/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/proxmox-ve-7-4-cannot-be-installed.125677/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/stuck-on-loading-initial-ramdisk.137010/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/a...-9-attached-screen-loses-signal-nvidia.136870
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/pve-fails-to-load-past-loading-initial-ramdisk.62738/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/booting-proxmox-8-1-hangs-at-loading-initial-ramdisk.137453/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/stuck-loading-initial-ramdisk.117502/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/hanging-at-loading-initial-ramdisk.135919/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/pve-8-1-stuck-on-loading-initial-ramdisk.140919/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/stuck-at-loading-initial-ramdisk-message.105696/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/pve-linux-6-5-11-7-pve-stucks-loading-initial-ramdisk.138157/
• https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/pve-8-0-and-8-1-hangs-on-boot.137033/

Installing Proxmox 7.4-1 worked fine.

Solution

• I wiped the Ventoy USB and re-created it with Rufus.
• Re-installed Proxmox and all works
• Simply booting the computer without the Ventoy USB didn't solve the problem, I had to reinstall from a Rufus USB.

The clue was when editing the Grub "script" I spotted the following on the linux line: rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy
This made me think that Ventoy might be related to the problem.
Removing the rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy grub parameter also allowed booting, so that might be quicker than a reinstall.

 

[p3ter_b]

Thank you soooo much!
I ran into the exact same problem.
(installed proxmox-ve_8.1-2.iso using ventoy-1.0.97-linux.tar.gz)

The file /etc/default/grub.d/installer.cfg introduces the rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy option:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="$GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX    rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy"

In order to remove the vtoy grub leftovers permanently, change it to:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="$GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX"

Then run update-grub and reboot.


I'm using Ventoy without any issues on several distros for years, so I wasn't expecting this to be the issue after a successful installation.
But since Ventoy needed a fix to install proxmox 8.1 in the first place, I guess I'll file another issue there.